


Everything Changes

by XIntensity_FallsX



Series: Reincarnated Falls AU [5]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged up characters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bill's awful ex is really awful, Characters questioning their morality, Characters with trauma, Dipper and Mabel are 19, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Manipulation, Mutilation, Original Male Character - Freeform, Past Abuse, Reincarnated!Bill - Freeform, Things start to get real here for Bill, Young Stan Twins, abusive language, some horror like elements, surreal nightmares, violence- some comical some serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-01-21 11:25:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12456724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XIntensity_FallsX/pseuds/XIntensity_FallsX
Summary: Stanford Pines is out for the count, recovering from his run in with wayward gravity. While he sleeps, Stanley and Bill go deep into the forest to figure out what happened. Truths are uncovered, and nothing will be the same again.Part five of an AU where Stanley gets to Gravity Falls first with Bill Cipher in tow.





	1. There Goes Gravity

**Author's Note:**

> Well, things get real in this part. 
> 
> Normally I dedicate a work to a friend, but I don't have a friend who this fits. Instead, this one's dedicated to a family member who helps keep me grounded and from making stupid decisions XD Thank you <3

_"Do you really think this is a good idea?"_

_Dipper looked up_ _from_ _putting the final touches on_ _the_ _portal at Mabel's words_ _It was a much smaller version of the original, able to fit them both_ _._ _Building it was not the hard part. Hiding it was, especially from their_ _Grunkle_ _Stanford. He ran his hand up the loop. "No. But... we made it, it's running, and we wanted to spend one last summer in Gravity Falls before we turn twenty, right? Just like when we were twelve and-"_

_"Dipper." Mabel put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him away from the portal. "I'm sorry our lives got dull after that summer, I really am. At first, I thought it was fine. For a few years, I was_ **okay** _with normal. ...Then it became not so fine. I missed it too_ _and I know you spent time_ _studying_ _dimensional frequencies_ _from_ _Grunkle_ _Ford's notes to find a different_ _Gravity Falls_ _for us to go to but..._ _._ _w_ _hatever_ _place_ _we wind up in_ _, it's not going to be the same as when we were twelve,_ _that summer was special."_

_Dipper pulled off his hat, fiddling with the brim. "I-I know. I wanted to feel like that again._ _..._ _If we start up this machine, we're going to punch a hole in someone's dimension, just because we have wanderlust._ _I know we took all calculations_ _to heart in order_ _to not make another rift but..._ _What_ _if we wreck it? What if we invite someone l-like_ _-_ _"_

_"-He's dead, Dipper."_ _Mabel rested against the table, crossing her arms over her chest. Her galaxy_ _dress glowed in the dark_ _of the old laboratory Stanford Pines hid underground in the forest all those years ago_ _._ _"_ _Bill's_ _gone. And unless he got reincarnated somewhere, he's not coming back. Ever. So... You can cross that worry off the list. Still though, punching a hole in someone's dimension doesn't sound like a good idea. Maybe we should be happy we've explored everything! You filled up six whole journals worth of things you found. Maybe... we should start looking for other adventures. I'm going to Europe in September, and you've got that fancy-_ _scmancy_ _new internship_ _Grunkle_ _Ford referred you to_ _!_ _"_

_Dipper raked a hand through his thick brown hair. "I-I know. But I... I just... I don't know. Did you ever like, look at_ _Grunkle_ _Ford lately? He seems so... bored. I'm not even twenty yet, and I feel bored! What am I going to do w_ _hen_ _I'm his age?! He saw the whole multi-verse, and he's... stuck here._ _We_ _went through_ _Weirdmaggedon_ _and I haven't felt that alive since!_ _We were twelve when that happened! Was that_ _our zenith? That's hardly fair._ _Everything's_ _b_ _een so boring and mundane_ _! This portal was our shot to be the Mystery Twins one last time in a whole new Gravity Falls. Do we really want to give that all away? We're so close, Mabel!_ _"_

_Mabel whipped out her phone, taking a picture of Dipper in the dim lights. "I spent most of this past year building this portal with you every free chance we had because I wanted to spend more time with you. We can't even work on it with the lights on because it might trigger the portal_ _prematurely_ _, which means I probably damaged my eyes!" She brought up the picture she took on her phone, shoving it in Dipper's face. "You see that? That's the crazy face_ _because t_ _his is crazy!"_

_He stared hard at the picture, shoving his hat back on his head. "Fine. Fine. You're right. This i_ _s pretty damn_ _crazy. I'm sorry I kind of... got lost there." He dropped his hands. "_ _Come on_ _, Mabel. Let's get out of here._ _We can get rid of the portal in the_ _mo_ _-_ _"_

_The lights went on in a bright flash, and the portal whirled to life. "Kids! Dipper, Mabel!" Stanford called down the spiral staircase. "I know you've been coming out here- what's that sound? What have you two done?!_ _I'm coming down!"_

_Dipper yelped out and cringed, stepping backward and away from the sound of Stanford's voice_ _. "Mabel, the kill_ _switch_ _! Stop the portal!"_

_"I'm on it!" She turned and made a leap forward for the control panel. Her foot caught the heavy cord, knocking her off balance. The portal's pull caught her in_ _it_ _s_ _force. "Dipper!"_

_"Mabel! I'm coming!" Dipper lunged for her, grabbing her hand. He yanked on her, his sneakers skidding on the floor. "I've got you! I-"_

_"KIDS! What have you do-_ _" Stanford's words echoed in his head as_ _searing_ _pain ripped through him and light heated his skin until it felt like it was going to blister._

Dipper Pines awoke to find himself on his back, on a hard surface. The whole room had a light metallic scent to it. He squinted his eyes to try and focus on things more, however the dim lights in the room were making it difficult. Everything in the room seemed to have a light red haze to hit. He felt a large hand on his arm, keeping it pinned down. His eyes focused on a large, horned being hovering over him and he immediately began to struggle. "He-Hey! What gives?! Let me go!"

"Oh, geez! Sorry pal. I thought humans had their hearts in their wrists. I wanted to make sure you're alive. ...Seems like you are." He let go of Dipper's hand, moving closer to him to get a better look. "Sorry if I scared you! I was trying to help."

Dipper's eyes narrowed as he brought his burned arm closer to his body. This being was much larger than any human he had seen before, with blue skin and a zipper like scar running down the middle of his face, down his neck, and seeming down through his clothing. His four eyes blinked at him, and it made Dipper's scowl deepen. He had a pair of horns which curved upward, and a set of sharp teeth which peered out from his wide smile. Clearly, he was about to be dinner, given what he was resting on was a table "I-"

"Wait wait, I know what you're thinking. You think I'm scary. I swear appearances are pretty deceiving. I mean... I might not be a threat to you, but you could clearly be a threat to me. I mean... all that lean muscle and those crazy eyes. Never trust the ones with the crazy eyes, am I right?"

Dipper puffed up his chest. In all of his years, no one had ever considered him a threat. He grew up to resemble his Grunkle Ford, average height, puffy brown hair, and no real intimidation to his form. It was a fatal flaw for him all through high school. He eventually tried getting more muscle, but he failed to develop anything more than minor lumps. Mabel had bested him in that department as well. "Yeah, I'm real crazy! You know, like a man on fire!"

"I bet you're smart too. You look like you're smart."

"Please, I've been vaulted ahead and it's only my first year of university." Dipper smirked. "I ah... I could really do some damage, yeah." He reached out with his finger to point, and the large being jumped back. Dipper's smirk grew. "But... I'm not going to hurt you."

"You... you sure? I mean... I didn't have a great run in with the last human I had in my house. I'm a little nervous. That's how I got this." He tapped the long scar running down the middle of his face.

"A-a  _human_ did that?" Dipper's eyes went wide. He looked his host up and down, and side to side, then frowned. "Impossible-"

"Well, human-ish, I should say. I  _thought_ he was a human. Then again, what do I know? I'm a demon. We don't really... you know.  _Know_ much about you flesh-lings beyond the whole usually have four limbs, two eyes at most, that you radiate heat and it's nice." 

Dipper sat up straighter, fluffing the collar of his blue polo shirt. "Well. Never under estimate us, that's for sure. But... but why did you have a "human" here in the first place anyway?"

"He was my boyfriend." He shrugged. "We often came back here, as his rotten 'best friend' didn't approve of our dating, and we couldn't go anywhere near his place to hang out. What a tool, right? He couldn't deal with our relationship, so he didn't want us around. In the end it didn't matter. It was clearly doomed to fail, considering how he violently flew off the handle over a minor misunderstanding. I learned my lesson, no more humans. Well ah, except for you. You were laying on the ground, all by yourself, in the woods. I thought you were hurt, so I brought you back here. Sorry about the table, I know it's not very comfortable. My ex broke it in his terrible tirade."

"O-oh. I'm sorry about your ex. But... I'm not alone, my twin sister Mabel and I came here together. We wanted to spend our last few weeks of summer here before we turned twenty. We did that when we turned thirteen. This was supposed to be a fun trip, but everything went so wrong." The pulsing from their portal still pounded gently away at the back of his head, almost in time with the pain radiating from the burn on his arm. He rubbed away at it, trying to get it to loosen. "We even rebuilt the—well... never mind that. Y-you didn't see her? She looks just like me, except a little bigger, and far more colorful. She should have been right beside me, I-I know we fell and landed together before we lost consciousness."

He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I only found you. We can go looking for her if you want, but you were pretty weak when I found you. You might want to sit for a few minutes more otherwise you'll be good to no one."

Dipper shook his head and took a step down from the table, finding himself soon on the floor. He punched his leg and scowled. "Okay, okay. You're right. I guess my legs haven't woken up right from the portal travel. Um, sorry, about before. You seem like a pretty alright guy and I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions just because you look scary. What's your name? I'm Dipper. Er... and do you want anything for the assistance? I've got some cash on me-"

"Well... I'm sure you can help me one way or another down the road. But don't worry about it. Get your strength back, and we can talk about it then. Demons do trade in favors, and I'm pretty sure I could use your help with something later on, and we'll be all even. Sound alright?"

Dipper's face paled a little. "L...Like what? Like a  _deal_? What do you want?"

"Oh, well... Nothing really. I want to fix up my table from when my awful ex broke it. Think you can handle that? Well after that burn on your arm heals up, that is." He gestured to the angry red skin on Dipper's forearm.

Dipper let out a sigh, looking at his burned arm. Ignoring it was not working. He winced, carefully letting it rest at his side. "Y-yeah, I can lend you a hand with that. No worries there. I thought you might want... well... never mind what I thought, it doesn't matter. Er... what's your name, anyway? I didn't catch it."

He stood over Dipper, reaching down with a large, blue hand in order to help him up. A smile spread across his face. "Bebxahl."

-

"Could you be more helpful?"

Stanley shrugged, and shut the pine tree journal they found earlier. "I'm trying to be. This journal's a little freaky. The guy who wrote it calls himself Dipper. What a name. Here, can you magically put it somewhere? I really don't want to carry it around anymore. It's giving me the creeps." He tossed Bill the book and then stretched out, floating along on his back. "And I can't help it, you've never let me float with you. I didn't even know you could do this until twenty minutes ago." He rolled around on his stomach, staring down at the ground. "Hey- look. In the mud." He pointed down to the tiny marks. "Those look like little footprints. Little  _gnome_  footprints."

" _Ugh_." Bill ran a hand down his face. He slid his finger in the air, as if unzipping a pocket. He slipped the book inside and closed it up. "I should have known. I hate jumping to conclusions, but of  _course_  they'd be up to no good."

"Not in the mood to see your ex-fiancés, eh?"

Bill reached out and punched him in the shoulder, getting a hearty laugh out of Stanley in return. "Shut it, Stanley! It's really not funny."

"Oh, oh. No. That's where you're wrong. It's  _always_  going to be funny! Hah! Sorry, Bill. You almost being gnome queen ranks as one of the best things ever. But uh, do you think they have anything to do with this?"

"Well, let's look at the evidence." Bill glanced back at where they came from. "There are two missing people in the woods, Stanley. They're always looking for a gnome queen, so... it's a pretty safe bet. Let's go find them."

"Do we have to? I hate those guys, with their creepy arms and legs, and those beards. We don't have a leaf blower, but since you've been so comfortable with your powers, maybe that's okay but  _still_."

Bill stopped mid float and slowly crossed his arms over his chest. " _Excuse_ me? 'Do we have to'? Coming from  _you_? Don't you think I have more of an objection to going back and having to see those little losers once again after they tried to marry me?  _You weren't the one in the wedding, Stanley, so stuff it_."

Stanley held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Oooookay. You're right. You're tottttally right. Well, let's go find them. Potentially ruin their day, blah blah blah. Heh. Poor bastards, running in to them like that if it's actually the truth."

"They're desperate for a queen. Desperate is a dangerous emotion, Stanley. Believe me, I know." Bill cringed and turned his attention away from Stanley. "And what if it's my parents that the gnomes have?"

Stanley stiffened up, and then swam over to Bill. He put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "I really don't think it's your parents, Bill. Let's be logical. You have all of these crazy powers. I think if it were your parents who uh, "visited", I really doubt they would have hit the ground like our evidence is saying. I also don't think they would have had a sloppy entrance. You know, you're never sloppy. You're always smooth. You'd never shake up a whole town like whoever these jerks are. Your parents would obviously know way more about their powers. They're probably at least twice as smooth. They'd come to town and no one would ever know."

Bill's face went blank, but his eyes darted to the side and stayed there while he began to chew on his lip. "I... you know... maybe I should start calling you smart guy, Stanley. Y-you see how desperate is? Making me not think clearly and all-"

Stanley's hand squeezed tighter on his shoulder and was joined by another. "Even if you don't find im', Bill... We're still your family."

Bill looked to him, wiping at his eye before the tears threatened to spill. "I... yeah. You're my family, no matter what. Come on, let's go. We have to help whatever person they took before they're the next gnome queen. No one deserves that fate."

"Alright, but where do you think the little assholes are?"

Bill paused and pursed his lips. He helped up a finger to stop Stanley from speaking. He got down to the ground, pressing his ear to the dirt. After a moment, he sat back up. "They're up north, not far from here."

"Wh... what the hell was that?! Was that a magic thing or-"

"Nah, nature boy, that was tracking." Bill grinned at him. "Come on, let's go!"

-

Mabel Pines woke up in a forest clearing. Dried mud caked the bare skin on her left leg and foot. Parts of her dress were covered in mud from when they fell to the ground. "Gross." She shifted around, grunting at her constraints. She was bound by vines, sprouting up from the ground. Her limbs hung heavily in their grasp. She tried to twist and move, only to find her binds had tightened further. She looked down at the gnomes milling about, gathering floral arrangements and setting up pews. "Aw come on!" She let out a hard sigh through her nose. "Not  _again_."

"I'm sorry, your future highness! Can I get you anything? Water, food-"

Mabel furrowed her brow at the gnome. Which one was this again? Jeff? "Eh, hey. It's Mabel. You guys already tried to marry me once when I was twelve. That was seven years ago in all, but I don't look that different-"

"Mabel?" The gnome tilted his head to the side, rubbing his beard in thought. He turned around and shouted to the rest of them. "Hey fellas! Our new queen's name is Mabel!" Cheers rose up among them as Mabel frowned deeper.

_They don't know who I am_. She fidgeted a bit more, working on one of the vines around her wrist.  _We must have made it into the other Gravity Falls! But where's Dipper? I don't see him anywhere. ..._ _I should have said no, I shouldn't have helped. We shouldn't have rebuilt the portal!_ _Grunkle_ _Ford is going to kill us for what we've done!_ _Ife_ _he can ever find us!_ _Not like we can even ask for help. Where would we tell him we are? In some mysterious other Gravity Falls where we don't exist? Good going, Mabel._ "Wait." She blinked.  _They don't_ ** _know_** _who I am!_

A slow smile spread across her face. "Hey! Hey, husband-to-be-number-whatever, don't you know anything about human customs? We need some witnesses here!  _Human_  witnesses. It's part of the ritual. Can't be married without im'."  _Thatta girl, Mabel. This'll buy you some much needed time. Who the hell are they going to get to come to this wedding anyway?_

"Oh." The gnome dropped his short arms. A contemplative expression crossed his face. "Humans, humans... Humans!" His face brightened and he pointed in the direction of two approaching people. "One is tall, one is shorter. Will they do? ...Oh. The tall one! We know him. He was going to be our last queen until his burly friend attacked us ruthlessly with a-"

"-Leaf blower?" Mabel asked, her voice going weak.

"Yeah! ...Actually, that short guy... he looks pretty familiar. If I were a betting gnome, which I'm not, we're not all Mark here- I'd say that's him! Jeff must have invited them for the grand affair!"

Mabel squinted hard, scrunching her face as if her sight would improve. The tall, brown skinned man she did not recognize. She turned her attention on the shorter man. Her eyes shot open. He was younger, far younger than she could ever imagine him being outside of a stray, ancient fake ID. "Grunkle Stan!" Her legs kicked against the vine. "Grunkle Stan, it's me, Mabel!" 

Stanley frowned at the sounds coming from the front of the clearing. His brow furrowed as he turned to Bill. "Well, there's the poor kid caught by gnomes. I bet you're right, Bill, she's one half of our travelers. ...Is she calling me Grumpy Stan?"

"Well, she's not wrong."

Stanley punched Bill in the arm. "I'm not grumpy, I'm annoyed. There's so much to be annoyed about over here, so don't tell me one way or another that I shouldn't be grumpy."

"Yeah, whatever you say." Bill rubbed at his arm. " _Grumpy_ Stan. You  _know_  I'm never going to let that go." He grinned. "Regardless, whoever she is, we have to save her. We need a pl-" He stopped the second he felt a small hand tugging on his pant leg to get his attention.

"Oh, so  _now_  you come to visit. The old potential queen has returned,  _obviously_  jealous of the new potential queen! See what a beautiful wedding ceremony you've stumbled in on?" Jeff spread his small arms out to his sides. "Take it all in, we know it's impressive. Annnnd we  _know_  you're  _jealous_."

Jeff continued to ramble about all the work he and his fellow gnomes did to make the perfect wedding. Stanley was interjecting with a stray comment here and there, but he heard neither of them. Bill looked over the clearing, his mind on the scenery. There were many tiny pews, decorative flower sculptures, and the smallest fountain he had ever seen. The new potential queen was tangled up in vines, working on trying to get a hand free. Bill squinted at her. She had long brown hair with colorful streaks in it, with part of her head shaved on the side. Her star earrings caught the light, and made him pause. His eye went wide, his mouth going dry. He licked at his lips and swallowed thickly. "Shooting Star. I know her. ...I  _know_ her. She's the girl who fell out of the sky. The one who caused the gravity to go nuts."

Both Stanley and Jeff stopped a conversation they were having. 

"Is  _that_ her name? I thought I heard someone say her name was Table? Label? Mabel- no, that's just crazy. Well, that's a much better name regardless." He cleared his throat and elbowed Bill's leg. "Old potential queen and the new potential queen know each other, eh? Now, that's kind of ho-" Jeff was cut off and sent sailing through the air from a well-placed kick from Stanley. He went over the clearing and was caught by the tree branches, swearing all the way.

"Sorry. I just, I don't know. I couldn't take listening to him anymore." Stanley shrugged, picking up a long tree branch from the ground. He swung it a couple of times, as if testing out the wait. "Uh, if you had a plan for a rescue, I'm sorry. I kinda started the melee without thinking."

Bill returned the shrug. "Nope. No plan. Make it up as we go along?"

"Now  _that's_ a plan." Stanley smirked and started in on the many gnomes rushing them. Bill weaved right and charged forward, heading toward the girl trapped in vines. "You little assholes think you can get the best of me twice? I know your game! You are only dangerous if you get close!" He pulled back up his leg and kicked another gnome off to the trees. He swung his branch out, knocking several more of them away. He caught sight of Bill pulling the girl free from the vines and barked out a hard laugh. "You tiny losers! We beat you again! What are you going to do about it, huh? Huh! Yeah, that's what I thought! You got a whole lotta nothing!"

The gnomes Stanley kicked rolled out from the underbrush, forming a small group. The rest of the gnomes took off toward them, stepping one on top of the other until a huge gnome towered over Stanley. They let out a roar, and before he could consider anything else, Bill was at his side. "Uh, welcome back. How 'bout next time I get to save the person, you get to keep the gnomes busy." 

"That's fair." Bill looked up at the hulking gnome with a frown. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. "I've got this, if you want to take our new friend out of here. I'll catch up with you later, make sure your phone is on so I can find you. This'll take ten minutes, tops."

"No way!" Mabel punched Bill in the arm. She winced and shook out her hand. "Yeesh, it's like you're made out of bricks or something. And... and you don't even have a leaf blower! You can't take them on without one of those!"

"Nah, he'll be fine." Stanley grabbed Mabel's wrist and pulled her away, leaving Bill behind. 

They ran through the forest, largely silent until Mabel stopped and dug her feet into the ground. "Wait! Really, wait! We can't seriously leave him behind!"

"Bill can take care of himself. Trust me, kid."

"Bill! His name is Bill?! You can't be serious!" Mabel ran her hands down the sides of her face, and gripped at her hair.  _Okay, calm down Mabel. Breathe. This is most likely a coincidence! Hah, of course he has a friend named Bill! There are millions of people named Bill, and probably at least a good ten to fifteen in Gravity Falls alone. There's no way he's the actual Bill Cipher. Bill's_ ** _dead_** _. Been dead, is dead, will always be dead._ "Uh, sorry. Had a bad run in with a guy named Bill once."

"Sorry to hear that, kid. You don't have to worry about this Bill though. He's great. Like the brother who wouldn't abandon me or anything because he totally could have and left to have a  _way_ better life, but he chose me instead." He rubbed at his arm. "I uh... I'm sorry, I'm still not over some personal stuff. Anyway, now that we're away enough from your gnome wedding, I got a bunch of questions that you have answers to."

Mabel chewed on her lip, frowning at Stanley's words. "Oh, I do. But can they wait? Your friend is fighting a gnome abomination, and my twin brother missing. I came here with him, but we got separated somehow. You haven't seen him by chance, have you? He's got brown hair, wears a beat up ballcap with a pine tree on it, and your standard dirty jeans and a tee shirt."

"Oh, you mean like every damn tourist who comes to this hick town? I sell those ballcaps in my store, and I've seen at least thirteen brown haired guys fitting that description this past week. Look, I'm not stupid. You and your brother caused the gravity to go haywire. Bill said it himself, and it makes sense. You made two very distinct mud prints from when you fell out of the sky, and the side of you is caked in mud. I don't know what you two are trying to pull with your stunt, but-"

"Okay, okay- so we did!" Mabel threw up her hands, scowling at him. "We did screw up the gravity when we came here, but that doesn't change anything about my brother being lost in the woods! He wouldn't leave me behind so someone must have grabbed him! Are you really going to stand around questioning me, or are you going to help me look for him?"

Stanley pressed his lips together, making a thin line. He let out a long sigh out of his nose. "Fine.  _Fine_. Come on, let's go find your brother before we lose all of the light. This place gets way too weird when it gets dark."

-

"Sorry boys, not tonight." Bill put his hands on his hips, and frowned at all of them. Each one of the gnomes dangled from an inky black tentacle. Some of them seemed resigned to their fates, hanging limply in their grasp, while others kicked and chomped. He reached out and plucked Jeff from a pair of tentacles, putting the gnome into his hands. "You guys really should try speed dating. The forest has its own singles crowd, why don't you give that a try instead of kidnapping people for marriage? I guarantee it'll go better. ...Like ten percent better, at least. Which is way better than a big fat zero."

"...Do you really think that'll work?" Jeff combed his little fingers through his thick beard.

"It's worth a shot, don't you think?"

Jeff sighed. He looked up at Bill with a small frown. "I guess. If we did speed dating, would you have gone out with us?"

"Yeah, I would have. I give everyone a shot. Dating a whole pack of gnomes sounds like a weird, good time to me." He shrugged a shoulder, and then sat Jeff on the ground. "I have a boyfriend now, though. So no singles speed dating for me."

Jeff snapped his fingers loudly, and stamped his foot. "Well damn. Hopefully we'll get lucky next time. Do you mind letting the boys down?" 

"Not at all." With a wave of his hand, the tentacles lowered themselves down to the ground. "Hey- before you all go and eat whatever wedding feast you planned, did you see another person by the girl you all stole earlier?"

"Oh! Yeah. Some guy." Jeff nodded. "We left im' there. I mean, guys are alright in all, but only certain ones. He's no  _you_ , so to speak. He was too 'guy' and not enough mystery."

Bill blinked and ran a hand down his face. "Thanks. I... I  _think_... One guest accounted for, the other missing. Do you remember what he looked like?"

Jeff shrugged a shoulder, looking back to the other gnomes. There were some murmurs and head scratches, but that was it. "Sorry. He was pretty normal. Nothing really stuck out about him."

Bill let out a hard sigh through his nose. "Alright, I guess that  _helps_. He left behind a book, maybe there is a picture I'm going to try and find him before it's too dark to see out here. Be good, would ya? I don't want to have this talk with you again." 

"Yeah, yeah." Jeff waved him off. "Come on boys, at least we've got that feast to eat." 

Once the last gnome was gone, he let his shoulders droop. "Sheesh." He drew his finger downward in the air, reopening the portal. He stuck his hand inside the pocket, pulling out the journal. Bill flopped down on the grass, cracking it open. Several pages were devoted to theories on alternative universes, drawings and diagrams of possible ways to explore them, and then right around the middle the text changed to something more personal.

_September_ _1_ _ st _ _:_

_Mabel and I have decided to try and go on an adventure. We wanted to try and explore an alternate Gravity Falls from our own before we turn twenty._ _In order to do this, we need a portal. Not necessarily one as big_ _as_ _Grunkle_ _Ford made in the past, but a smaller one. One that could only_ _go to one other dimension. This will minimize the risks involved_ _and the potential to create_ _another_ _rift._ _We're_ _going to be tweaking_ _Grunkle_ _Ford's notes, and I have a type of fuel in mind to power it other than radiation_ _._

_January 2_ _ nd _ _:_

_Things are going well. We've been able to get what we needed from the old portal by sneaking bits and pieces out. Some of my colleagues at school were able to make what else we needed with their 3-D printer. Mabel, who was excited at first about this whole project, is starting to feel_ _apprehensive_ _. Maybe she didn't think we could get it this far._

_January 31_ _ st _ _: We are on track for a test run in June. I keep reassuring Mabel that this is totally fine. We will be totally fine._

_March 10_ _ th _ _:_

_We've decided to move production to the portal to the old underground lab of_ _Grunkle_ _Ford's to avoid_ _suspicion_ _and hide our project. I've decided to use the lab's old electrical system and generators as a primary power source for the portal. We're keeping the power off just to make sure we don't trigger any accidents._

_April 21_ _ st _ _:_

_I caught_ _Grunkle_ _Ford staring at his statue today. He didn't move for hours. Does he do this often? Why? I thought he was over everything with Bill. Yet there he was, staring at the statue. Maybe he was missing life in the multi-verse._

"Bill?" He sat up straighter against the tree. "...There are a lot of people named Bill." He mumbled, returning back to where he left off.

_Then again, why would he want to relive any of that? What was so good about Bill that he'd go stand vigil by his stupid statue? Maybe he's lonely._ _I heard rumors about the type of relationship they used to have._ _That_ _must_ _be it. There are plenty of people who would date him though, so I don't_ _understand_ _why_ _he doesn't at least try if he's missing that in his life_ _. Bill was terrible. He possessed me, planned to kill me. He nearly killed_ _Mabel as well!_ _I know_ _Grunkle_ _Ford said he tricked him into thinking he cared for him_ _\- a_ _nd how Bill_ _conned him into a deal until the end of time! I just don't get it. Especially after all that happened. Bill didn't care at all about him!_

"Not true, Pine Tree." The words did not sound like his own, nor did he recall saying them. Yet they rang in his head all the same, replaced only by a dull throb starting at the base of his neck.

_He tortured_ _Grunkle_ _Ford, he almost brought out the end of the world!_

_I still have nightmares from everything._

_He can't possibly miss Bill._

"Bill  _who_?" His fingers gripped the sides of the book. "Bill who!" His teeth dug into his lower lip. The metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth. He squeezed the sides of the book harder, tears stinging at his eye. He knew, he knew deep down. With each pound of his heart, heavy and hard against his rib cage, he knew exactly who  _Bill_ was. 

_My_ _Grunkle_ _Ford is a great man, a hero. Bill Cipher was nothing but a_ _monster_ _._

_That's my name._ He looked up and away from the book, and then back down again, as if it were a mistake. No, the name did not change. It remained his own, burning into his eyes. He blinked, but all he saw were the words  _Bill Cipher_  and monster. When he shut them, they seemed burned into his eyelids. He let out a choked sob, his nail tracing over the word 'monster' repeatedly. His pace picked up furiously until he nearly tore the page out of the book.

"Nooo, no no. No. No. No no no no. I'm not! I'm not! I don't even know  _who you are_!"

_Bill Cipher is a monster._

_That's what the words said._

A monster.

_The author of this book_ _knows_ _you._

"I'm  _not_." Tears streamed down his cheek, staining the ink on the opened book in his lap.

**Monster.**

"I'm. I'm a m-monster."

He hunched over his folded legs, moving until his forehead pressed against the floor. The tears came nonstop, wetting the ground. He gave out a screaming howl, one that came from deep in his chest, deep down from a place he did not recognize. The sound was distorted with static, crackling and breaking with hitches when he took a breath. He dug his fingers into the ground, and clamped his eye shut while the voices of different ghosts started playing in his head.

_"My mommy says you're a bad kid." One of the many nameless children's voices from his_ _childhood sprouted up like an unwanted weed_ _._ _"She says you're from hell. Like a demon! Bill's a monster!" The sing song tone stung him like a thousand bees. All of the other children_ _in his mind_ _joined in, their voices circling around him in a chain._

He cupped his hands over his ears. "I'm-I'm not bad." Bill laid on his side, drawing his legs up into his chest.

_"You're like a spider, Bill." Mr. Smith's voice dropped weights on him. Heavy, suffocating waits which kept him from getting in a breath._

"No, no. No, I'm not." He whimpered into his arm. 

Stanford's face full of heart break and dark circles from lack of sleep overwhelmed his mind. Even when he opened his eye, he was surrounded by his face, as he mouthed out a fury of words. He did not hear what he was saying as he repeated it silently over and over. However, one word he began to recognize as he mouthed it out himself.  _Betrayed._ "No! I didn't, I wouldn't betray you! Fordsy, I  _swear_ -" He wrenched himself on to his back, reaching for Stanford's face. "Why do you look so different? Why are you so tired, let me help you-"

The image rippled when he touched it, his face draining out of his mind as if he were water going down a drain. "Come back-" His voice was small. "Don't leave me behind. I'm not bad, I  _promise_."

_You do what you have to do._

This voice was much like his own, only distorted and higher pitched.

"I'll survive." Bill's voice was low and even.

The voice returned again, and Bill would have sworn he heard a smile in the words.  _Survival is what you do best. Bill Cipher always survives, one way or another._

-

When he woke up, he was greeted by the sight of the night sky, dotted with far away stars. His cell phone was vibrating madly in his pocket. Slowly, he reached down to grab it out of his pocket. "Hello, Stanley. No. I'm fine. I'm always fine." His voice was hollow and had a crackle to it that was not his own. His mind on the stars as worried words poured out of his phone from Stanley. "I will meet you and our guest at the Mystery Shack. You should be back there now anyway. It's too dangerous out here for you. Though, I must say I have news. ...I finally found out what I am. This journal told me. I suppose it reaffirmed what I always knew, however."

Bill quietly waited for Stanley to finish shouting at him. Whatever words he was speaking, they never sank in. "Goodbye, Stanley." He shut the phone off, remaining on the ground for a good while until he rose from the ground and into the air with the book.

He floated effortlessly off the ground, though his body hanging in the summer sky. The tree tops were a blur, of which he hardly remembered passing. When his feet touched the side walk in front of his store, the trip there seemed to happen in a blink. His body sagged on his ankles and made him sway unevenly. He gripped the brick wall, holding on to it tightly while he let the dizziness ease up. With a sigh, he dug through his pocket to grab his keys. His hand rubbed dried tears from his cheek, knocking leaves and twigs from his hair. 

He door opened easily, without the key. He pushed his way inside, wavering on his feet. The shop was as it always was, quiet, save for the ticking clock on the wall. Each tick sounded like a beat of his own heart as he crossed over to the front of his counter. He rubbed the palm of his hand into his eye until it became painful. His hair was next, his fingers combing roughly through it, reminding him that he did feel pain. The distraction eased up the emotional numbness.

In went a deep breath, out went a shallow breath. He counted back from ten, and the tension seeped out of his body.

  _Okay. Okay, Bill. This isn't so bad. Let's just... logic it out._  The book dropped down on the counter surface, and he stared at it through the stinging sensation in his eye.  _How could I be_ _this Bill Cipher,_ _when_ _I'm clearly_ ** _not_** _him. I didn't do any of the stuff they mentioned. I'm not a bad person._ _I didn't do squat to betray_ _Fordsy_ _. I didn't torture him. I haven't brought about the end of the world either. It must be some kind of weird coincidence. I'm not this Bill Cipher. I'm me._

"I'm my own person." The words came out as a whisper, followed by a smile. He reached down for his phone, sending a message to Stanley.  _Hey, sorry about earlier._ _While I don_ _'t remember what I said, I know I wasn't myself._ _I'm_ _better now. I didn't see anyone else in the forest, but I was having a mental breakdown. We'll look together in the morning_ _for the_ _other_ _missing person_ _. Be over soon_ _, and I will tell you everything_ _._ Once it was sent, he let out a long, shuddering sigh. The floor boards behind him creaked out a sharp sound, and Bill gripped the counter. 

He made no move, listening hard in the silence of the room. He heard the sound of barely audible breathing, and light cursing- most likely due to stepping on Bill's loose floor board.

 He was not alone.

_You're a damn fool, Bill. The shop door was open, you never should have_ _gone_ _inside._

He swallowed hard. "I know you're here. You're in the right corner of my shop." He kept his voice even. "So let's talk. I'm friendly. Did Rico send you?"

Footsteps coming from out of the corner crossed along the floor. They were heavy, and calculated.  _He's sizing me up_. "Not a talker, eh? Well. It's your lucky day. I've got you more than covered." Right behind the counter were his revolvers. All he had to do was get to them. If he summoned them, he ran the risk of blowing his cover. This was a simple assassination attempt and nothing more, no magic was required. He gripped the counter, and made a move to swing himself up and over to get behind it. The intruder tackled him to the ground in a loud thud. Bill's fist connected with his jaw, and his hands went fast for his arms. Bill grabbed his wrists, and rocked to the side enough to roll the man off of him.

He sat on the man's trim stomach, and made a move for his throat. The other man's hands grabbed his arms and squeezed hard, pushing them away. Bill wrenched violently around his grasp when he caught sight of his face, covered in a scarf and a pair of goggles. His hair was grey and the body beneath him was fit for an older man. Bill slowed to a stop, and smirked down at him. "Hey there, silver fox. What a handsome guy for a  _trespasser_." 

The man beneath went rigid beneath Bill's long legs for a good moment or two, until he shoved him off. He got up, making a backward beeline to the wall, rolling his shoulders and glaring at Bill from behind his goggles. The lenses were growing foggier with each moment.

_He's blushing._ Bill's smirk only grew as he got up to his feet. He lowered his stance, bringing up his fists. "Oh come on, you weren't shy  _before_. Let's go, tough guy. Come finish your job. I've had a  _really_ shitty day, so let's keep that train rolling. I'm ready for you."

The other man gripped his fists, charging at him from the corner. The pair crashed into his new fortune telling table, smashing it to bits. He struck Bill in the face with a hard punch, and instantly withdrew his hand. He shook it out, as if trying to get out all of the pain. Bill took the opportunity to kick him off and away. He scrambled in a spider like crawl across the wooden floor, heading around the counter to reach for his gun belt. He took it down, grabbing one of the revolvers.

A hand yanked on his foot, pulling him toward his attacker. Bill wound up on his back, trying to kick at the other man. Nothing seemed to land as the other man forced his way between his legs. A gun with multiple cylinders, a long barrel, and glowing crystal instead of a regular muzzle was pressed right into the middle of his chest. "What kind of a-" All words stopped. He moaned painfully, the sound brought out by the searing heat from the crystal. He brought up his revolver, sticking it in the middle of his attacker's forehead.

There was a sound from inside the other man's weapon, a clicking whirling sound, followed by a whiff of ozone. His shirt singed up, crumbling into ash as his skin burned hotter. Sweat pooled down his face as he gritted his teeth, not wanting to howl out again in pain. He cocked his gun, pressing it harder into his forehead. The other man did not flinch.

_He_ **_really_ ** _wants to kill_ _me. He'll shoot regardless of whether or not I do._

_Maybe... Maybe I should let him._ _What_ _if I do wind up like that_ _other_ _Bill Cipher? What if I_ _start_ _hurting all the people I love?_ His hand began to tremble around the gun.  _Maybe it hasn't happened yet because I haven't awakened. All those dreams I've been having. Maybe they're a warning for what I could be._  Tears streamed down his face.

_I'm_ **_not_ ** _a monster._

Bill lowered his arm to the ground. He let go of the gun and looked away, clenching his eye shut. His attacker's gun suddenly began to tremble at his surrender. Slowly the heat pressed to his chest began to dissipate and the weight was gone from the middle of his chest. The hot crystal muzzle gone, followed by the sound of metal hitting the floor. Bill's eye slowly began to open.

His attacker, with his black trench coat, covered face, and out of place science fiction gun was trembling all over as he sat between Bill's spread legs. He was not looking at Bill, favoring a spot on the floor next to his head instead. Bill glanced down at his burned chest. There was a deep divot from the tip of the crystal boring into his brown skin, and wave like scorch marks radiating out from the center. He uttered a small squeak of a sound, placing his hand over it to try and heal it.

When nothing happened, he scowled and lashed out his hand, sending the other man backward and into his bookshelf with a wave of energy. Being careful about magic use no longer mattered. Whoever this person was, they were not a normal human. "I only have one of these!" He got up to his feet, his fists engulfed in blue fire. He stared down at the man on the floor. No one had ever dealt him damage he could not heal. "I have a  _boyfriend_ , what's he going to say when he sees  _this_?! He's going to look at me and get sad that he wasn't here, I'll have to wear a shirt every time we have sex because of him feeling guilty and it's all your fault! Ugh, I was alright with you killing me, but now you've only mutilated me! ...Damn, that's pretty vain of me to say. But if you've seen his 'oh no, I feel guilty' face, you'd understand!"

He seemed to be struggling to move, keeping his face from looking at Bill. 

"And now you're not even paying any attention to me. That's  _so_ rude. You're sending me way too many mixed signals here, pal. Where did you get your assassin lessons from anyway?" He raised up his hand, levitating the man up off the floor. He struggled in the invisible gasp, especially when Bill came closer. He walked slowly around him while he thrashed in the air, mindful of his kicking feet. On his second walk around, he saw the hilt of one of his ceremony knives he sold as tourist gifts sticking out of him, right above his hip. He grabbed the man's coat, pushing it aside to see the extent of the damage. "Stop struggling! I'm not going to hurt you. You're only going to make it worse.  _Now_. Let's see here. You've got one of my souvenir knives stuck in your side. Damn, that's in there deep. Well... don't worry. I'll fix you because  _I'm a good person_. Just hang tight. Pun intended."

He gave an audible groan, and Bill smirked. "So, he speaks- er, groans. He has a weakness, it's bad puns!" He left his side to retrieve a pencil from his counter. "See this?" He wagged the pencil in front of his face. "I'm going to pull down your scarf, and you're going to bite it. Not  _me_ , the pencil. It's going to hurt when I pull the knife out, but this will help you not damage your teeth or have you wind up biting your tongue. No thrashing around, you'll make it worse." Bill reached up and tugged down the scarf. The man had a recognizable jaw line with a cleft chin. He paused for a moment, running his thumb over his chin and up his jaw, feeling the rough stubble beneath his thumb. The man shuddered at the touch, leaning into it enough for it to be noticeable.

Bill's eye went wide.  _It_ _can't be._ _It doesn't make sense. You're just crazy, Bill._ _Fordsy's_ _recovering at the Shack_ _, and he's young. This is just a product of your madness._ "P-pencil." He murmured and pressed it between his lips. He moved quickly to his side, placing a hand on him in comfort. "Alright, I'm going to take it out. It's going to hurt, but it'll be over soon." He pulled the knife out carefully, tossing it to the side. "Worst part is over, here comes the healing." He laid is hand over the wound, helping the skin slowly knit itself back together until all that was left was a smooth, perfect surface. To his credit, his patient stayed perfectly still. "All patched up and... oh. Oh, what's this-" He spotted a line of ink peeking out at him from under the waist band of his black trousers. The line seemed to extend up his shirt and to his back. "Oh.  _Oh_ _ho_ _ho_ _ho_. You have some ink. I want to see!" Bill grinned and started to lift his shirt up. The other man moved around and kicked, grabbing for the end of his shirt- fighting Bill for the control. "Aw, come on. It can't be  _that_ bad." He glanced up to the man's face watching the blush creep down his cheeks, and cackled at the sight. "Oh, I stand corrected! It must be bad if you're  _that_  red. Okay, okay. I won't torture you anymore. I'm sorry." 

He lowered him down to the ground and removed the pencil from his mouth, tossing it back on the counter. Once his boots were on the floor, Bill straightened out his coat's collar. "Alright Silver Fox, the Would-Be Assassin, you need to go. You have made a mess in my shop, and your uncanny resemblance to my Sixer is not helping my current mental state." He floated his discarded gun over to him. "Here's your futuristic murder gun, and over here is the door- which you clearly know about as you broke in." He opened the door for him, gesturing to the side walk outside. "Out you go."

The man did not move. His gun remained floating idly in the air next to him.

Bill frowned and put a hand on his hip. "Come on, go. Out." A couple of seconds passed with no more movement. Eventually, Bill went back over to him and took his hand. "This way-"

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Six fingers.  _Oh._

Bill reached up with a trembling hand to pull off his goggles. An older Stanford's tear streaked face greeted him. Bill's thumbs gently brushed his tears away, noting how wrinkles would look on his eventual Stanford. Stanford's eyebrows were knitted together in an anguished expression, his frown deep as he chewed on his lip. 

A thousand questions raced in his mind at a dizzying speed. He wanted to ask them all, all at once. All he managed to get out however was something different entirely. "C'mere, Fordsy." He reached out and pulled him in to a hug. Stanford remained limp in his arms for a good while, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides until his arms snaked tightly around Bill. He wept openly and hard, against Bill's soft neck and hair. Bill's hand stroked his grey hair, letting his eye close.

When he opened it once more, it glowed yellow as a slow smirk spread across his face.

End of Part 1


	2. Painful Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill comes to grips with the future by learning about his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE. 
> 
> I wound up getting really busy, and I had to put this on the back burner.
> 
> Special thanks to FooeyBurr who helped me out with this fic, discussing ideas and finalizing my outline!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the finished product :D

_It_ _used to feel like this to be with him. Just like this. Surrounded by his warmth,_ _being_ _infected by Bill without even caring. Before he betrayed me, before he ruined me._ Stanford clenched his eyes shut.  _It can't be real._

This Bill was a memory; a ghost of a lie from so many years ago, trapped in the form of a man hugging him back. Comfort soon followed the warmth, as the pair of long, thin arms around him were squeezing him tighter. Each moment the grip strengthened, yet Stanford responded in kind, hugging a man he nearly killed moments ago. "I'm so sorry about your shop, I-I will help you clean up-"

"No need, Sixer."

The words, like cold, icy fingers dragged down his neck and made him shudder. His breath caught in his throat.

"It's  _me_ , smart guy." Gone was the chipper tone of the young man, replaced with the too easily spoken words of a being he knew all too well. The color was draining rapidly from his face, while Bill seemed all to eager to press his face into his neck, his breath tickling Stanford's skin. "And boy, did I ever miss you! ...Have you started wearing cologne? You  _smell_  out of this world! Ah, the pleasure of having a nose!"

Stanford tried to pull away but found he was pressed firmly against Bill. There was no doubting the tone. Bill was indeed here. "I  _knew_ it. What did you do with the young man from before?" Slowly, the arms around him unwound enough for Bill to look him in the face. His eye glowed lamp like in the darkness. "Have you stolen this body from someone-"

"Oh, no. No no no, Six! You've got it  _all wrong_. I  _am_  this body! This is one-hundred percent me! ...Well, one-hundred percent me if I had been reincarnated into a meat sack body and left to grow up under my own devices, but me none the less."

Stanford stared wide eyed, mouth agape. "N-no. That young man  _can't_ be you-"

Bill's eyelid crinkled upward, his mouth sneering. "What's the matter, Fordsy? Don't think I can be nice? I can be a lot of things when given the chance! Being lots of things is almost nearly as fun as  _knowing lots_ _of things._ " His arms went tight around him once more. Bill stepped forward, forcing Stanford to move back until he was pressed against the counter. A puff of air ghosted along the rim of his ear. "Knowledge is great, isn't it? I for one know something very interesting! Can you guess...?"

Stanford shook his head violently no. "Bill, let me go-"

"Tsk! That's not even remotely close! I suppose I'll cut to the chase. It's been a long, violent day after all. You're so lucky I'm in a giving state of mind! Here it is." He leaned in, licking a trail up Stanford's ear with a thin forked tongue. With a smirk at Stanford's shudder, he whispered in his ear. " _I_ _know you miss me_."

"No! Never!" Stanford tried to push Bill away, but his hands dug more into him. "I would never-"

"But you did!  _And you do_. That's the best part, y'see! Now I'm here, and we can run off together- explore the multi-verse, even!"

"Are you—no! Never, not in this life time or in any other!" His words rose to a higher level, making him swallow hard to force his voice back down. "W-what about your life? The young man sai- I uh, that is to say...  _you_ , said you had a boyfriend-"

"You know, dramatic irony is pretty hilarious, Sixer. I guess you can say I got a type! If only you knew. Let's just say he's not going to mind much and leave it at that." Bill's face brushed against his, pressing their cheeks together. "Come on, Stanford." His voice went soft. "Don't do this to me, I know you miss me. Pine Tree put it in his stupid journal, so it  _must_ be true."

Bill's long lashes scratched along his skin. His working eye was currently crushed against his face, not aware his movements. He grabbed Dipper's journal from off the counter, smacking it hard enough across Bill's face to send him reeling backward. Stanford stayed against the counter, watching Bill lean over, rubbing at his damaged cheek.

No sound passed between them. Stanford's fingers dug into the book cover, watching, waiting for Bill to do something- anything at all. 

"-Ow. That... ow." He slowly stood back up, a hand pressed to his cheek. The glow in his eye was gone, replaced with an annoyed, very human expression. "Look pal, I don't know what your game is, coming in here and destroying everything, then when I'm nice to you, you..." His eye fell on the book raised and held in a set of six trembling fingers, traveling up to Stanford's pale face. "I... Wh-what happened? Wait. Wait I- I don't-" He raked a hand through his thick, curly hair. "I don't remember... O-oh no. That's bad, the last time this happened, I-" He took in a few sharp breaths, and squeezed his arms. " _It was so bad_."

Stanford carefully placed the journal in his trench coat pocket, holding up his hands. "You're back." He shook out his hands, as if it would stop the tremble. He took one calm step forward, while Bill took a scrambling one back. "It's okay, I'm a doctor. I can help you-"

"My hit man's a doctor?!" His voice rose up into a shrill sound. 

"No, no- I'm not a hit man-" 

"Oh, well thank goodness for that! You're not supposed to leave any sign that you were here, and boy howdy you sure did a poor job of that! And here I thought Rico was slipping." Bill was still taking slow, trembling steps toward the door.

"Please calm down, I only want to talk to you-"

"NO! You don't get to, pal!" Bill's hands flew up to his ears and he covered them. "I'm dangerous when I don't remember, I gotta get real far away before I slip up, I could hurt someone again-" He turned away from Stanford and went straight toward the door, stumbling out into the muggy night heat.

Stanford grabbed up his discarded gun from earlier, jamming it into his holster. He followed quickly behind him, lashing out to grab his arm. "Bill, please! I can help you, I know that I can!" Bill yanked his arm backward enough to send him stumbling forward. He leapt back a couple of feet to get some distance between.

"No you can't! No one can! I'm stuck with this problem! You don't get it!"

"Hey! Get the hell away from him!" Stanley's voice cut through the thick air. His fist connected hard with Stanford's face, knocking him to the ground. Bill looked to him with a wide eye, and then down to Stanford. "Go! Get outta here!" He waved at him. "I'll take care of him! Just message me later!"

Bill hesitated, looking between the unconscious body on the ground, and Stanley's face. He danced on his feet in jittery way, chewing on his bottom lip. "I don't-"

"Go!" Stanley's shout carried down the empty street. He pointed finger gestured toward the dark forest line. "Go, I'll take care of everything! Let me protect you for once!  _Please_! _"_

Bill pursed his lips, backing up a few feet. His eye never left Stanley's face while he did, before he finally turned and ran, his feet slapping hard on the sidewalk until he vanished in the darkness. 

"Okay, asshole." He gritted his teeth and grabbed Stanford by the trench coat, turning him over on to his back. He studied Stanford's face, his eyes slowly roaming over far too familiar features. He reached out with a trembling hand, pulling gently at the other man's face to smooth out the wrinkles. His jaw dropped, his hand slapping over his open mouth. "S-sixer?"

"I'm coming, Grunkle Ford!"

Pain from a right hook shot through his jaw. Before his vision went black, he saw the girl they rescued in the forest standing over him in his own perfected boxing stance.

-

Boom.

Boom.

 _Boom_.

Each pulsing beat exploded across his face from where he was struck earlier. Stanley knitted his brows together.  _Shit, she hits hard._

"Mabel, I appreciate the help. I do. But did you have to tie me up as well?"

"I uh, I went a little overboard. And I didn't want you two to get into a fight, so... Safety precautions it is! Dipper would agree, if he was here." 

Stanley winced at the words, letting his eye slowly open. Mabel's voice was chipper and pulsing in time with where he was hit. Stanford's voice was older, a bit more tired. If he had to imagine his brother as an older man, everything about the person sitting across from him fit the bill. "Stan...Stanford? I don't... I don't get it, but that might also be the head injury talking." The other one was swollen shut. The side of his head pounded, pulsed, and throbbed. He tested his arms, finding them bound to one of his chairs. "H-how the hell did ya get so damn old?"

"How much did you tell him?" Stanford asked and looked to Mabel.

"Well... not much. We didn't really have a whole lotta time. Finding Dipper was our main priority." Mabel rubbed at her arm. "This is all our fault, I'm so sorry! We only wanted to have one more summer, it wasn't supposed to cause any harm-"

"-Jumping through that portal can create a rift. You have put this dimension at great risk if that's the case." Stanford squared up his shoulders as best as he could while still being tied. "Stanley, I am so sorry for everything so far today. I am your brother from another dimension, one where you and I are older men with a wayward great-niece and nephew. You've already met Mabel."

"Is 'zat why you hit like me? That was my stance you were in." Stanley turned his blurry attention on to Mabel. 

"Yeah, Grunkle Stan." She pressed a cold compress to the side of his face. "You taught me how to box when I started high school, and I kept up with it! I got a boxing scholarship for college and everything! I'm so sorry I had to hit you. I was scared you'd hurt Grunkle Ford."

"Nah, it's alright. I'm impressed. That was a hell of a punch. I actually taught someone how to do something. Well. How 'bout that?" He grinned despite the pain in his face. "So uh, great uncles huh? I'm guessing you came from Shermie, then?"

Mabel beamed, moving the icepack down his face further. "He's my grandpa!"

"Heh, wow. I mean, I'd be much happier 'bout all of this, but you scared off my best friend, knocked me out... and I’m guessing that whole loss of gravity business was you guys coming into my dimension?"

"...Yes, that would have been us. Or rather, the kids using my old technology." Stanford cleared his throat.

"Well, you did a number on yourself, so you better add that to the list of damages. My Stanford was caught out in the forest when the gravity went crazy. If it wasn't for Bill, I don't know what would have happened to him. He brought him back here, healed him up. He's upstairs sleeping." He shifted left and right in the chair, watching Stanford and Mabel. "So... What's Bill doing in your dimension anyway? He wouldn't happen to be woman by chance, out of curiosity? Uh- I'm asking for a friend."

Stanford's brows knitted together, his frown deepening at him from across the room. He kept up the look until Stanley began to squirm. "This... is going to be difficult for you to hear. Bill is not what you think he is. He is an ancient being beyond comprehension."

" _Bill_?" Stanley gave out a bark of laughter. "The same guy who steals my boxers to wear despite the fact that they don't fit his skinny ass? Bill- the guy who... who can't bear to spend the  _night_ by himself is  _an ancient being_ _?_  You're  _nuts_. We might not know what he is, but there's no way in hell he's something that mysterious." 

Stanford pressed his lips together, letting out a long sigh through his nose. "I understand your apprehension to this idea. You have only known Bill as a human being. Bill is  _not_ a human, even in the form you know him in now. He's a demon, Stanley. We stopped him our dimension. Actually,  _you_  stopped him. I do not know  _how_  or even  _why_  he was reincarnated into a human-like creature in your dimension, but that doesn't make any less dangerous-"

"Look, pal. Sixer. I'm going to stop you right there. I appreciate your warning in all, but I can handle Bill."

"Grunkle Stan..." Mabel touched his shoulder and he winced. "Bill is really dangerous. He nearly killed Dipper and I many times. I know you want to believe Bill is not a bad demon, and maybe now he's better. But  _please_  be careful. The Bill  _we_ know may still be in there somewhere, and if he is, he's not up to anything good. Though... Maybe... maybe you can help your Bill not be like our Bill-"

"Mabel, don't get his hopes up!"

"Why not, Grunkle Ford?! This dimension is so different than ours, it's not too much of a stretch to think that Bill's going to be different too. I-I want it to be better. This might be a chance for you guys to do all the bad stuff over again. Bill was the worst, but I trust you, young Grunkle Stan! Enough to even untie you first."

Stanley leaned forward once he was out of the ropes. He rolled his shoulders and shook off the stiffness, mindful of not moving his head too much. "Thanks, kid." He watched Mabel carefully undo Stanford's binds next, standing beside him when she was finished.

"Stanley. Your Bill told me he has a boyfriend. You must warm whomever this is about-"

"Ugh. It's  _you_ , Stanford." He gestured to him. "Well... uh, actually no. That's confusing. It's my Stanford."

Color slowly drained from his face. "I... I see. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised in the least." He dragged his hand through his thick gray hair. "We also need to discuss Dipper, and how to rescue him. But first... may I use your rest room?"

"Oh, sure. Use the ones upstairs." Stanley gestured with his thumb. "The stairs are down that hallway."

Stanford nodded and got up to his feet. He rubbed his sore jawline, following Stanley's directions. He ran his hand over the wallpaper, looking at the strange art on the walls on the way to the stairs. Some of them were ancient drawings depicting many armed, many legged beasts. None of them looked like creatures he had seen in his Gravity Falls. He ran his finger over the corner, causing the paper to disintegrate. "These are... real documents." His mouth fell open. The Mystery Shack in his dimension had nothing legitimate, everything in it Stanley made or took from his own stock. He started up the stairs, frowning to himself.

Once he was on the second floor, he caught sight of an open door. Peering in, he saw a younger version of himself passed out on a bed. Stanford stepped into the room, making a mental note of the various pictures on the wall. The most recent was at his college graduation robes with Fiddleford, followed by a picture of himself and Stanley. They were sitting on a table, flanked by balloons in Backupsmore colors.

"My graduation party..." He mumbled. "Stanley came to my party." 

His fingers ghosted over the picture capturing his and Stanley's young, smiling faces.  _My younger_ _self forgave Stanley so early._ _They will have so many more years together than I ever will with Stanley_ _._ His jaw trembled, and tears pricked at his eyes. He plucked the picture right off the wall and shoved it into his trench coat. He palmed his wet face, trying to get rid of his tears. After he regained enough of his composer, he adjusted his glasses and made his way through out the rest of the room.

On the nightstand was another framed photograph. This time, it was of Bill on the sand, staring off into the distance. His hair was heavy with water, his shirt clinging to his chest. There were two suit coats thrown over the sand not far from where Bill stood, one of the coats Stanford recognized as his own from the other graduation pictures. One final picture covered in fold marks sat right beside it. He picked it up, smoothing out the surface. He took note of the thumbprints and the worn edges.  _This must have been in my wallet._ It was him and Bill, sitting beneath a large tree. Bill's six arms were wrapped around him as they both smiled at the camera. His glasses were askew, his hair a mess. There were no hints of malice in Bill's smiling face.  _We look so normal_ _and happy_ _._ He rubbed his thumbs over the surface of the photograph, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Stanford stuffed the picture into his pocket with the one of him and Stanley.

His sights fell on his sleeping younger self.  _You have everything. I'm so sorry I'm going to have to take one of those aspects away, but you'll be alright. You have Stanley._

Stanford turned away, looking toward his desk where the familiar red leather material of his first journal stuck out against the dark wood surface. He opened it without a second thought, setting down in the chair. He flipped through the pages until he had a blank one to work with. 

_To My Younger Self,_

_I apologize for the gravity causing you injury. I am Stanford Pines from a different dimension, I came here after my great-niece and nephew invaded your dimension_ _in a misguided attempt to relive their childhoods_ _._ _...I do not blame them, in a way. However, t_ _heir_ _entry may have caused a rift- a tear capable of creating a door_ _to another dimension to this one_ _._ _While that may sound harmless, I assure you if_ _this rift falls into the wrong hands, it has the potential to bring nothing but mayhem._ _I_ _will look for it while I am here, but should I not find it, it will be on you to find and contain it. I have done this_ _before_ _, and I know you will be able to do this as well. I have drawn pictures of what you need to look for_ _below_ _and how to do this task_ _._

_I wish this was all I needed to tell you, but there is something else._

_This will be difficult for you to hear, and I am truly sorry._

_-_

Bill ran through the town, past the outskirts, and into the forest. He brushed past trees, the branches slicing at his skin and breaking in his wake. His pulse raced, his lungs burned with each breath, and his vision became a blur. His legs ached, burning from the over use. 

He ran until he could no longer recognize anything around him. 

He ran until the ground gave way beneath his feet and he was swallowed up by the earth around him.

Bill slammed into the walls of the hole turned tunnel, covering his face and neck with his arms as slid down into the darkness. It spit him out, and he rolled to a stop, resting flat on his stomach on the rocky cave floor. "The hell, how can this day get worse..?" His panting filled the room, his feet scuttling over the floor as he attempted to gain some kind of traction to move off the ground. When nothing wanted to respond, he let out a long, frustrated whine.

 _Alright, alright. I got the_ _message_ _._ Bill clenched his eye shut, concentrating on healing his sore frame. The warmth spread through his body, easing each ache along the way. 

He put his forearms on the ground, slowly raising himself up to look at the cavern he was now in. Blue fire formed at the tips of his fingers, lighting up the room in a soft glow. His eyes fell upon an old painting of a massive door. He squinted hard at it. The edges of his vision began to grow darker, crumbling into blackness. "No- stay awake! Stay... awake. I healed myself! This shouldn't be happening! Come on Bill, come on! Stay-" His eye stung, his eyelid feeling heavier which each blink. "...Awake..."

"Well well well well well well!" 

Bill winced at the sound of a voice- his voice- speaking to him. It had an odd distortion to it, reminding him of a voice used in an old video game. He rolled on to his back, finding himself face to face with a one eyed, floating yellow triangle surrounded by a black void. He furrowed his brow, saying nothing as the triangle above him seemed to smile with his eye. He raised a trembling hand, poking at the smooth, yellow surface.

"Hey!" A small black hand knocked his away. "It's not polite to point at yourself, kid! Where are our manners?"

" _Our_?" His mouth felt like it was full of sand. He sat up, watching him float effortlessly in front of him.

"Yeah! Who do you  _think_ I am? I'm you! Heh. Well. You're  _me_ , actually. I'm the original Bill Cipher, and you're the lucky guy who gets to be my reincarnated self!"

Bill blinked at him. He recognized the familiar shape of the being floating above him. It haunted him in his early drawings as a child, in symbols he found in the strangest of places. His shadow often took on the same exact shape as the one before hand, enough for Stanley to have noticed it more than once. The way he floated was the same exact way Bill often floated when he was home in his own shop. It was possible to deny it, sure. Deep in the darkest parts of his being however, he knew better. He narrowed his eye. "You... you're the one who keeps trying to leave Stanley and I messages! Well ...warnings."

"We got a smart guy right here!" He twirled the cane around in his black fingers, whacking him hard on the head. "But you better  _wise up,_ kid! There's a whole lotta weird things going on, and about to go on, but you're too busy with meat sack concerns!" He raised his thin black arms, creating images inside of his triangular frame. Some of them showed Stanley, others showed Stanford. "-Mooning over Stanley Pines of all people, then chasing after Stanford Pines like we've got nothing better to do! Though I do have to say, I approve of the latter! Good ole Fordsy bound us for all eternity, after all!"

"Ow! Geez!" Bill rubbed at the top of his head. "I-"

"Shhh. I am not finished." He pressed a finger to his lips. "I have a real  _bone_  to pick with you, kid! You're going to sit there and listen!" Tentacles sprung up from the darkness, pinning his arms to his sides, and wrapping around his mouth, trapping any words he had to say inside. "I give you powers, I give you endless knowledge, and what do you do with it? Nothing! You haven't even figured out everything I've given you!"

Bill thrashed in his binds, biting at the tentacle in his mouth in an attempt to get it to let go. His face was roughly grabbed and forced to look upward by a pair of small, black hands. "You're me! I expect better from you! We have stiff competition in this dimension, and I'm not going to let some chump demons get the better of me!" He saw the confusion present on the other's face, and then pinched the space above his eye in frustration. With a wave, the mouth tentacle was gone. 

His teeth cracked down on themselves with the appendage now gone. He shook off the sensation, looking up to the other Bill. "You need to fill me in. Clearly you know so much more about all of this than I do, and you know it'll go so much better when we're on the same page." 

"Alright, alright. Here's the deal, kid. We're Bill Cipher, a demon with endless power and an unmatched, dapper style! We exist in every facet of the multi-verse, in every dimension! There's depictions of us- or rather- me on every planet that ever had the joy of existence, including this one! Your Sixer found an old statue of me earlier. And you must have seen one of the painted depictions of me in the cave you fell into. That painting is one of my favorites."

Bill did not bother to interrupt. There was no drawing of Bill in the cave, rather, there was one of a large door. Apparently, his other self had no idea about this.

"Anyway, you are something special! I was actually defeated in a dimension, and to avoid being gone permanently from the multi-verse, I reached out to a...  _friend_. Apparently, reincarnating me into you was his idea of 'helping'."

"Sorry." Bill shrugged a shoulder. "I've been a disappointment all of my life to many people. If it helps any, you're not the first." He gave him a lopsided grin.

"Que Sera, Sera kid! You're a work in progress!" He shrugged his thin arms. "Eventually, you will be strong enough for me to merge with you, and you'll cease to exist anyway! So no worries there!"

"W-what?!" Bill sputtered out. "You've been incubating me all this time then just so you can steal my-"

"-Our-"

"Body?!" He lurched forward in the tentacles, as the appendages strained and pulled, trying to keep him back. "I've got news for you, you're not getting my life!" The tentacles snapped back, freeing his arms. He raised his hand, summoning his own inky black appendages. They reached out and snagged Bill around his thin black limbs, yanking the triangle down into the darkness until his shouts of protest and the glow from his yellow body were gone. Bill ran a hand through his curly hair, floating alone in the dark, listening to the sounds of his own heavy breaths.

 _He's gone. I won_. Bill let out a bark of laughter.  _I won!_

The darkness slowly began to lift, revealing the Mystery Shack lobby. Bill slowly floated down from by the ceiling, letting his feet rest flat on the wooden floor. He let out a shuddering sigh, leaning against the counter. Everything in the room was coming down from a full spin, to a slow stop. He shrugged off the rest of it and cleared his throat.  _"_ Stanley!" He pushed off from the counter, heading toward the back hallway It's been a very,  _very_ weird day! Let's go hit that biker bar for some cheap drinks!" His voice sounded raw to his own ears, as did his footsteps. . "Stanley, where are you?!" His hand reached for the door knob, his fingers going right through it _._ His eye shot open _._ "Wh-"

"Nice try, smart guy! But this is the mindscape!" Bill's voice surrounded him, all distortion and static. "You're in my territory!" Many black hands leaped up from the floor boards, wrapping his around his legs. Wood splintered around his feet as he tried to pull him down from below. "You can't fight the future, you can't fight the inevitable! I'm coming back through you, whether you like it or not!"

Bill's feet began to sink below the breaking floor boards. He reached out and slammed both of his palms on the wall. Two more sets of arms sprouted out from his sides, bracing himself enough to pull out his legs from the hole. He kicked furiously at the hands, knocking most of them away. Some managed to creep up his body, clutching at his shirt, and the back pockets of his pants. "I'm not going to let you take everything I've become and ruin it! This is  _my_ life, you had your chance already!" His arms began to change color, from his normal brown skin tone to a white hot yellow. Black drained from his curls until they matched the blinding color of his arms. Red overwhelmed his head and torso. The many black hands clutching at him turned to cinder, allowing him to float above the ruined floor.

"Oh ho! So it's a fight you want then?" Bill's whole mindscape began to shake, the walls Mystery Shack vibrated until they bowed out and splintered. "You have no idea what you're dealing with!" A massive red pyramid with rows of teeth, and lashing tongues came up from the ground. His black eye looked down at his human self, his bottom lid rose up in amusement. "You're nothing but a snack, kid! But that's cute, real cute! You look just like me in your own inferior way!"

Bill's six hands engulfed in blue fire. "You're not going to get my body." He flew right at him, punching his flame wreathed fist right into the surface of Bill's red bricks. Hot, blinding white light erupted between them from the strike, blowing them back in different directions. Both Bills let out a howl. Hot light seared his skin, burning him in a wave energy. Every inch of skin crawled in agony, every breath he forced in scalded him from the inside out. All around them, Bill's mindscape began to crack and tremble. Energy pounded against the walls, forcing them to bow out and explode open. Bill brought his hands to his head, pushing at the sides of it as if to stop his head from splitting right open.

_I'm going to die. I blew up my brain_ _. I'm going to die in this cavern. No one will ever find me, no one-_

When he came to once more, he was laying on the remains of the Mystery Shack sign, floating in the same dark void he woke up into. His extra arms were gone, and his skin color was back to normal. His shaking hands reached up, feeling his face and head. One nose, one mouth, one eye- all where they needed to be. He let out a barking laugh. "Mmph. I guess I shouldn't fight myself in my own head." He watched his other self, floating down as a much smaller triangle, one that looked like he would easily fit into the palm of his hand.

"Lesson learned, kid." He sat himself down on the middle of his chest, looking at him with a heavy-lidded eye. "My head's killin' me. How 'bout you?"

Bill nodded slowly, carefully raising himself up on his elbows. Where ever his body happened to be, he was certain he was going to have a horrible headache when he woke up. "Yeah, it hurts. D-did you know that was going to happen?"

He gave a huff, flopping backward on Bill's shirt. "Look, we may know lots of things, but we don't know  _everything_. Especially not when it comes to a situation like this. ...This is pretty new to me."

Bill brought up his hands, carefully picking him up off his shirt and into his palm. "That makes two of us, you know. ...Am... Am I really going to cease to exist when we merge?" 

Tiny black hands poked and played with the fleshy part of his palm. His eye rolled up to look at him in the face. His lower lid raised up, and he let out a long, heavy sigh. "I suppose there is no use lying to myself. I have no idea, kid. I've never been reincarnated, never had to merge with myself. It's all a weird state of existence for me. And for you. I know you've wanted to know what we are for... well, forever."

"Well, I know now. I'm a demon. I kind of figured it was something er... not human. But that doesn't necessarily make us bad one way or another, just because we happen to be something with a negative connotation. All my life I've been trying to be a decent person. Er. Demon. A decent demon." He twiddled his fingers for a moment. "My body feels like it's trying to wake up-"

"You're right about one thing, kid-"

"-Before I do, I need your help. Do you know where the Pine Tree kid is? He's missing, we can't find him and we both know how dangerous the woods are-"

"Pine Tree!" He slapped his palm and laughed. "Oh  _boy_ do I ever know where he is! And you know what? I'm going to  _tell_  you where he is because even  _I_  don't think Pine Tree deserves this! You remember your awful ex-boyfriend?"

Bill's eyes widened.

"Yeah, he's there."

"That's  _terrible_!" Bill ran his free hand down his face. "He's probably going to try and sacrifice him to his damn master, like he tried to do to me!"

"Except Pine Tree's a human, so... he'll actually succeed this time." He rolled his eye at the mortified expression on Bill's face. "I know you want to rescue him in all, but... The kid hates us. Well, me in particular. And for good reason, you saw the journal!" He laughed, leaning back on his thin arms. He gazed up the solid frown he was getting, and let out a hard huff. "Aw lighten up! Don't be so serious! I'm a demon, it's what we do! Shame on him for making a deal with me in the first place. All I'm saying that  _you_ rescuing  _him_ is going to go over  _really "_ well _"_ _._ Especially when you go in there shooting off some very familiar powers." Bill waved his hand dismissively. "He'llnever believe you're there to help him out _._ You're better off letting the B Team rescue him. My Stanford's leading it, he's got it under control-"

"-Can you suppress my powers?"

"W- _what?!_ Are you kidding me?! Oooohhhh ho ho ho. No. No way, kid. Absolutely not!"

"He'll believe me if I don't have powers! ...Maybe. I can get him to at least trust me enough to let me save him!"

"Oh sure, yeah. I can see that working. And then right after that, I can see us getting smashed like a pancake by Bebxahl. Great plan. I don't get a body if it doesn't work anymore, so the hell if I'm going to let that happen. Now look, kid, I know you want to help. I got no love for your ex, and his master's one of those demons I mentioned earlier who thinks they're hot stuff-"

"-All the more reason to let me ruin their day by taking their human sacrifice away! Come on, I know you want to. Take away my powers, but if I’m getting in over my head, give them back. Easy."

Bill rubbed underneath his eye in thought. "I do want to ruin his day, kid. I  _really_ do. But suppressing powers and granting them back? That's a lot of work, despite what  _you_  may think. Plus, I gotta pay attention to you instead of the other, much more interesting things out there while you go save Pine Tree? I mean... you could … oh... sweeten the deal." He stretched out his hand, and it erupted into blue flames. "I help you with this, and you'll owe me a favor of... something. Not sure what I want it to be, but I like the idea of having an open-ended favor with a body that's not confined to a barrier. Keeps life interesting!"

He furrowed his brow and stared hard at the offered hand. "One favor, huh? ...Alright. I can do that. But you can't cause bodily harm to my body, nor can you get us thrown in jail. It's odd. I feel like I should distrust you more, but... you're me. Whatever you want, I know it'll make sense to me in  _some_  way." He rubbed at his chin for a moment, furrowing his brow. "What an oddly peaceful and unnerving feeling."

"It's the warm, fuzzy feeling of familiar unsettling dread! …Well?" He wiggled his fingers at him. "Do we have a deal or not?"

Bill reached out and grasped his hand. "Deal." As soon as he pulled back his hand, his shoulders sagged, and he leaned forward. He grasped his head in his hands, shuddering hard all over. Blue fluid began to gush from his unusable eye. "Wh-what is this?!" He clasped his hand over his face, trying to stop the fluid from coming out of his eye socket. It burst from between his fingers, coating his hand and arm.

"It's a phsycial representation of you losing your power! We're visual people, so I know deep down that you appreciate it! No need to thank me!" The last of the blue fluid dropped down from his fingers, vanishing from sight along with the rest of it. "You're done. No more powers! ...How do you feel now that you're finally a full-on meat sack?"

Bill slowly removed his hand from his face. He held both of them out in front, turning them over to look at his palms. Pins and needles ran up his fingers, through his hands, and up his arms. "...Weak." His voice went soft. "I feel  _really_ weak." He brought his arms in close and wrapped them around his body. 

"Great! Oh! I should ask if you have a preference just in case I have to return some power to you fast. Your body can't handle suddenly getting all of the powers I've carefully introduced to you over time back. It might overwhelm all of your vital organs, which while fun, would be pretty bad. I think you can handle one of them immediately. The least I can do is let you pick the one you want back first. You'll get the rest of them when I feel like your body's ready."

Bill frowned, running a hand over his hair, gripping the back of it. "I... I guess... the pyrokinesis. In case it gets violent with Beb."

"Fair enough! Look, kid, it's really going to be miserable for you to get these powers back. I can't draw it out over your life like I did before, because you're going to need them sooner rather than later." He fiddled with his black fingers for a moment, looking at them rather than the other sitting beside him. "I just hope it's worth it for you. You're giving me a favor and setting yourself up for a world of serious pain with no healing capabilities- plus, you're going to have to go through the agony of having your body accept all of our powers back. All for Pine Tree, who hates me and doesn't know you. He's a dime a dozen patsy, believe me! ...Though, Six would be sad if something happened to the kid. That  _is_ saying something, I  _guess_." 

"If you've spent any time paying attention to my life, you know  _exactly_  why I'm doing this." He watched the other's eye widen in response. He turned sharply away from Bill, his upper eyelid narrowing.

"Fine, fine. It'syour funeral, kid _. Hopefully not_ _literally_ , as you owe me one!" 

The mindscape stilled abruptly. Bill's stomach leaped from his abdomen into his throat. He was thrown from the platform and back into his own body in the cave, where he laid on the cold stone floor. He blinked in the darkness. He dragged himself up into a sitting position, listing heavily to one side until he toppled over. "Come on, body. Come on." He smacked his leg and braced himself up on his palms. "Stupid human body, come  _on_!"

_I told you it wasn't going to be_ _easy_ _without powers_ _,_ _smart guy._ _L_ _et's see how you do._

"I'm doing just fine!" He stood up fast on wobbling legs, colliding with the cave wall. Pain exploded in front of his eye. " _Still_ _fine_."

-

Dipper sat in one of the large, over stuffed armchairs cluttering Bebxahl's living room. His eyes were slowly following the intricate, tiny lines in the floor. They were faint, almost as if they were not there upon first glance. There were far too many of them for it to be a haphazard accident from moving furniture. He stood up from the chair, squinting at them. At first, they appeared to be nothing more than simple lines, but as he moved slowly around the room, they all ran together beneath the throw rug in the middle of the room. His fingers itched, wanting to grab up the rug and look under.

Bebxahl was in the kitchen, preparing tea. Dipper listened for the sounds of bustling movement. The whistle of the tea kettle went off. Soon, Bebxahl was going to be back. There was not enough time. He cursed quietly beneath his breath and took a look down at the lines once more. Just like the lines leading to the middle of the room, they all flowed out to one spot toward the end of the room. He made his way over to it, mindful of his steps and the noise he was making.

The lines lead him to a spot where there were four holes in the floor boards.  _Beb_ _mentioned his_ _ex broke_ _his table._ _It has to be the same one he wants me to help fix._ _This must have been where the table was_ _originally_ _. ...Why would you ever need holes for the legs though?_

"Hey! Who said you could move around the room?"

Dipper jerked forward, staring with wide eyes over his shoulder. He laughed at his comment, though it came out as bubbled, nervous laughter. "H-Hey Beb! You startled me. Is this where your shitty ex broke your table?"

Bebxahl stepped forward, staring down at the spot where the table once was. "Yeah, this is where the bastard broke it. Life is so much harder without it, you know? I used to do some much more entertaining with it. Spiteful, jealous bitch. Anyway, your tea is going to get cold. Hope you like it."

"R-right, yeah! Sorry. I wanted to size up how to fix the table." He cleared his throat, following Bebxahl back to the chairs. He sat down on the same chair he sat in earlier, it's size nearly swallowing him whole.

"Ah yes, I'm so glad you've agreed to help me with it. Once we find your sister, we'll have an extra set of hands. We'll look again in the morning." Bebxahl took a seat across from Dipper, his large, hulking frame fitting easily inside the chair. 

Dipper fiddled with the tea cup in his hands, unable to look away from the large being in front of him. The long running vertical scar seemed to split him in half, going all the way down his face and disappearing past where his shirt blocked the view. "Um, forgive me if I'm being rude but... You're really huge. Your ex must have been massive too."

"No. He was tall for a flesh-ling like yourself, sure. He was more so skinny than anything. At times, he was more like skin stretched over bones. Ugh. Every damn time he showed up that skinny, he ate every scrap of food in my house. Who eats a box of baking soda?! He also had one eye. One  _yellow_ eye, with a long slit fo a pupil... Humans don't tend to have those normally, do they?"

"N-no. No, they don't." Dipper's hand began to shake around the tea cup. The beverage inside sloshed left and right at the movement. "W-what was his name? You haven't mentioned it yet."

"Oh. Right. His name's Bill."

"...Cipher?" Dipper's voice came out as a tiny squeak.

"Yeah, that's  _him_." Bebxahl rolled his four eyes and took a sip of his tea. "Bill Cipher."

The tea cup crashed on the ground, splashing tea all over the place. Dipper sat motionless, save for his trembling hands, letting the hot liquid run down his bare legs and into his sneakers.

"Damn it! Look what you did! You damn humans are so careless with other beings' stuff! Eat me out of house and home, break my tea cups, I'm not made of gold!" 

Bebxahl's words hit him like a hard punch of reality. He rolled his shoulders and looked down at the broken cup. "Oh- Oh no! I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened, I just—Can you give me a towel? I'll clean this up!"

"Yeah, you better." He snorted loudly and muttered something under his breath about 'good for nothing wastes of time' that Dipper could not fully make out. He got down on his hands and knees, picking up the bits of smashed tea cup.  _Why wouldn't there be a_ _Bill in this dimension?_ _Bill exists in every universe._ _Grunkle_ _Ford said he is an element of pure chaos. He'd have to exist in_ _some way_ _._

Dipper's hands began to shake as he picked up the larger pieces, depositing them on the coffee table.  _Apparently_ _,_ _he's just as_ _awful here as he_ _was back home._ _No wonder he was able to rip poor_ _Beb_ _in half!_ _I've got to get Mabel_ _and leave here before we run into him. I don't want to deal with him again, regardless of whatever form he's in._ One bit of the cup got stuck between the edge of the rug and the floor. He wedged his fingernail in between both, dragging the bit out. His nail got caught on a particularly deep ridge. Biting his lip, he lifted his finger up to see what line it was in the design he came across.

The word RUN greeted him, deeply etched in, with a drag mark wrenched across the wood from the letter N. He ran his fingers over the letters as his eyes widened. He moved his hand to grip the carpet better, lifting it higher. Several more words were carved into the floor boards, enough to make several sentences. RUN, DANGER! RUN IF YOU ARE READING! THIS DO NOT TRUST HIM HE IS GOING TO KILL YOU!

"What do you think you're doing?"

Dipper cranked his head up to see Bebxahl standing over him, a towel gripped tightly in his fist. He opened his mouth, however no sound came out.

Bebxahl sighed hard, pinching the bridge of his nose. His rigid shoulders drooped, as he tossed the towel down to the floor. "Look, I know that looks bad. I know what you're thinking, big bad blue demon is killing people in his house, blah blah blah. But that was a going away gift from Bill. He wanted to leave some graffiti on my floor. I couldn't fix it so I threw a rug over it. Wouldn't you?"

"I... I... guess, yeah. Sounds like something Bill would do. Can I clean up a bit? I've got tea all over my legs."

"Sure. The bathroom's down the hall."

Dipper muttered a 'thank you', heading away from Bebxahl toward the bathroom. He never would have considered what type of dwelling a demon would live in until he was inside one. It was similar to a human house in what type of rooms were in it. The shape however, was long and fairly winding, twisting in sharp angles. The first door he tried wound up being the bathroom. He scuttled in and shut the door, putting his whole weight against it as he slid down to the floor.  _Okay, okay. Calm down, Dipper. This is no big deal. It's Bill. Bill's at fault for everything. He abused_ _Beb_ _, and burned up his floor as some kind of weird punishment. That's totally something he would do!_ _Beb's_ _a decent demon, Bill is the worst. All the time. Things never change._

There was the sound of heavy wood smashing against something hard. He jumped, and then pressed his ear to the door. 

"Where's the kid?!"

He furrowed his brow; his feet scrambling against the smooth floor to try and hear better. The voice had a familiar, grating sound to it.  _Bill_. He cupped his hand over his mouth, despite not uttering a single sound.

"Why do you have to break my house all the damn time?! What's  _wrong_  with you?!"

"I don't care about your fucking house, where's the kid!"

A crawling sort of dread crept up from Dipper's stomach, clawing its way up into his throat.  _Why's he looking for me?_

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. This all started off on the wrong foot with you being rude, but I'll forgive you-"

Bill's voice rose up an octave, taking on a shrill, incredulous tone. " _You'll_ forgive  _me_ , now  _that's_ -"

"Hold on, let me finish. I know you ripped me in half and all, but my master was very impressed by you. He wants to meet you."

"Wow, do I ever  _not_ care!"

Dipper blinked.  _Wait._ _Beb_ _said he was afraid of Bill_ _when he first mentioned him_ _._ He got up off of the floor, opening up the bathroom door. He peered out into the hallway, creeping around the corner to see into the living room. Bebxahl's hulking blue frame was facing away from Dipper, while a skinny man with brown skin and wild, black curly hair was currently on his hands and knees in front of his knocked over tea. He ran his finger through the liquid, holding it up to Bebxahl with a wild-eyed glare.

"This tea's still warm, so he must be alive somewhere- seeing as you already  _have_ a cup." He pointed his finger rigidly at Bebxahl's tea cup, sitting with a twisting column of steam coming from it. "So where is he?!" He jammed his finger forcefully into his blue chest, immediately shaking it out after.

"Look, Bill. Babe. Calm down. You're acting hysterical." He reached out and grabbed Bill's shoulders with one set of his arms.

"Don't you touch me!"

"I'll do as I please in  _my_ house!" Bebxahl's other pair of hands gripped him around his thin waist.

His heart began to pound, heavy and hard in his chest.  _Something's not right here._ _Beb_ _said Bill ripped him in half, why isn't he doing that now? Why isn't he attacking him?_ _Beb_ _should be no problem for someone like Bill!_

Bill was thrashing wildly in his large clawed hands, writing around like a fish flopping around on a fishing boat deck. "So help me if you've sacrificed him already, I'll tear you into so many pieces your master won't ever be able to put you back together again!"

 _Sacrificed?_ The color drained from Dipper's face. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the stand of fireplace tools. He edged around the room, mindful of the floor, until he quietly pulled the poker from the stand.

"Look, babe-" He release Bill from both sets of his arms, in order to scratch at his head sheepishly. "I know things didn't go well for us the first time, but really. Hear him out. Hear me out. You have a lot of power within you. More than I could have ever imagined. We're planning a little break out party once my master is back to his full strength. You know, consume some humans, open the doomsday door, and usher in the age of demons."

"Wow. I'm pretty sure—No, I'm damn sure I had a better plan, pal. It involved margaritas and eating the sun. I don't want any part of your stupid demon rule your boring master came up with. He can stuff whatever he was going to say to me, and I hope he chokes on his own words!"

The sound of Bebxahl's large hand colliding with Bill's face echoed through the house. He fell to the ground in a heap Dipper was not able to make out from where he stood, still clutching the poker. "Do  _not_ speak about my master in such a way, you waste of flesh-!" Down came Bebxahl's thick leg, stomping on Bill's arm. A dull snap, followed by a shriek and a howl of pain raked through Dipper's bones. 

Bill twitched and rolled to his side, protecting his arm against his chest. "You son of a bitch, you sick son of a bitch-!"

"What happened to your power?" The question came off as cool, and calculated as he stared down at Bill while he writhed on the floor. The same question floated around in Dipper's mind.

Bill was hauled up into the air Bebxahl, and smashed into the fireplace. Once, twice, three times more until he coughed up a sizable chunk of blood onto Bebxahl's face. "They're gone, aren't they? ...Or do I have to break you again to activate them? I don't mind doing that, you know. I'm pretty good at that, if you remember correctly."

Bill's head lolled to the side. He caught sight of Dipper gripping the poker tightly, his eye going wide. "Kid! KID! Run! Get out! Get out now while you still can! Your family is here, your sister- she's looking for you!"

Bebxahl shoved Bill against the stone mantle once more, choking off his ability to speak. "Don't listen to him, Dipper. He's the one who hurt me, ripped me in half! He's faking this. This isn't real. His arm's not really broken, he's going to grow four more any second now." He gave Bill's body a shake. "Do it! Grow the arms!"

"R-run." He sputtered out, blood caking his lips. "Pine Tree-"

Dipper lunged forward, driving the poker into Bebxahl's back. The blunt edge plowed through his skin, enough so that it was sticking up right out of his side. He dropped Bill to the ground, uttering curses in a language Dipper did not recognize. "Come on!" He grabbed Bill's good arm, pulling him to his feet and toward the door. Once they were outside, they tore down the hill. "What's with you, where are your powers?! We could use them right now! Turn into a big pyramid monster, or set something on fire, or turn his teeth into baby eyes- do something!"

"I can't! I had my powers suppressed so I could save you and... wait,  _baby_ _eyes_? Can I turn stuff into  _baby_ _eyes_? Are we talking doll eye baby eyes, or actual eyeballs here? Hell, I am going try for  _both_ that when I get my powers back!" 

"I don't know whether to be flattered, or terrified." Dipper took in deep breath after deep breath, in between hard huffs. "He's gotta be close behind us!"

"...You don't run much, do you?" Bill lashed out and grabbed Dipper by the arm. He pulled them both into high reaching brush. He pressed his finger to his lips. "Catch your breath, through your nose.  _Quietly_."

Dipper's hands reached out and grabbed onto Bill's wrist, gasping for breath. "But what if he finds us,  _what if he_ _goes_ _after_   _Mabel?_ "

"Shh, sh. He's not. He hasn't left his house yet, believe me. I know. Come on, Pine Tree, breathe. Nice and easy, okay? Then we can get back to booking it, but I can't carry you right now so you're going to have to breathe for me."

He sucked in a breath through his nose, letting "Who are you? You're not Bill Cipher. You can't be, you're... too... helpful. And rational."

"I am him, I'm reincarnated from him. Look, I read your journal. I know what he- or... I?  _We_. We did to you. That's why I had my powers taken away, I thought you might not listen to me if I had them or would be too scared to trust me. I didn't want anyone else to be hurt by him. Or...  _sacrificed_. Granted, I thought it would go a lot cleaner than what it did, and boy. It well... it went  _something_." He sucked in a breath of his own, jerking forward into a fit of bloody coughing. When he was finished, he wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand, leaving a long bloody smear he attempted to wipe off on his pants.

"Will... you eventually become him?"

"I..." Bill went silent, turning his gaze on his broken arm. He shrugged a shoulder. "Don't know."

Dipper watched him, chewing hard on his bottom lip as his breathing returned to normal. He reached out, squeezing Bill's shoulder. They sat in the quiet of the brush, not saying a word, until Bill doubled over. "W-what's wrong?!"

"I-I think I'm getting a power back. I-It feels like my organs are on fire. ...I was warned of this, don't feel bad for me." He said through gritted teeth.

Dipper reached out, his hands hanging in the air. The body doubled over in front of him was Bill Cipher after all. A Bill Cipher who was suffering for his sake. His fingers twitched as he lowered his hands onto his back. "It's... It's okay. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere... if that helps."

"It does!" He choked out and pressed his forehead to the ground. Heat radiated off of his body in waves. Dipper gripped his shirt for support, gritting his teeth as wisps of blue flames coiled around Bill's fingers. The fire leaped up from his hands, shooting around his arms in pale blue columns. Bill jolted upright and Dipper fell back, watching the flames surround him in a large fire ball. At its height, thefire licked at the overhanging branches above them, gradually fanning out into nothing but a docile orb in Bill's outstretched good hand. He clenched his fingers into a fist, letting the smoke trail upwards into thin strands before shaking it away completely. He glanced to Dipper with a lopsided grin. "Well... that's one."

"H-How many more do you have to get back?"

"A ton. I'll get them all back gradually, probably over the course of the next few weeks."

"It looked like it hurt."

"Lotsa things hurt." Bill shrugged his shoulder. "But... You're saved, so... Hey, whatever works in the end, right?" He looked away from him, staring down at his broken arm.

He inched closer to him, sitting beside Bill. "Why-why did you want to save me so badly?"

Bill shifted in his kneeling position, staring a hole into the ground in front of him. "All my life I waited for the right people to come save me when I was in horrible foster home after horrible foster home. Even when they did come, the result was always the same. Another meeting with an overworked, jaded social worker, and then another family that didn't want me. ...I met myself earlier, the Bill I was reincarnated from. He said your family was coming for you, that they were going to save you anyway, regardless of what I did. They're probably the right people who could have saved you. I just... I didn't want to rely on other people for this when I was more than capable to save you myself."

Dipper put his arm around his shoulders. "Thank you for coming for me. But we  _really_  need to fix your arm."

A howl ripped through the forest, sending all matter of forest life scattering in to the sky or in different directions. Bill got up to his feet, hauling Dipper up with him. "We need to go, first and foremost. Beb's apparently pulled the poker out that you impaled him with. Come on."

Once they were out of the brush and back to running, Dipper fought to keep Bill's pace. "H-hey, how do your powers work as a human- er... Humanoid being? How do they run?"

"They run off of my own energy and metabolism. The more I eat, the more I can do, the stronger I am." He moved onto the path, gesturing for Dipper to follow him.

"...How much did you eat today?"

"Not... much."

"Uh-oh." 

Bebxahl slammed down in front of them, sending rocks and debris everywhere. "How- How  _dare_  you! I take you into my house, and you try to impale me!"

"Shut it, Beb! You were going to sacrifice him!" Bill stepped in front of Dipper.

"That's none of your business, Bill! You stay out of this!"

A fiery orb formed around Bill's hand. "Get out of our way, and you get to live."

"Got a power back, I see. I see how you work, I rough you up, you get more powerful. You should be thankful for what I do to you, I bring out your best side! Come on, I know how hungry you are. Let me take out of the kid, get the blood to my master, and I'll feed you. Come on, Bill. I've got all your favorite snacks."

Dipper heard Bill's stomach growl. He watched the orb around his hand flicker, growing dimmer. "Don't listen to him! He's an asshole! I'll buy you all the food you can eat, but you can't be serious- not after all of this!"

"Just give me the kid, and everything will be fine again. I know you missed me, you don't even have to say it-"

The orb surged back to life, and Bill let out a growl in a language Dipper did not understand. He threw it at Bebxahl, encasing him in a blue, fiery prison. Howls erupted from inside of the orb. For a moment, he did not do anything, as if standing there listening to them like they were a song.  Bill eventually reached back, grabbing Dipper's wrist to start running through the forest once more.

-

Mabel cupped her hands around her mouth, sucked in a deep breath, and shouted as loud as she could. "Dipper! Dip-Dop! Dippin' Dots! Big Dipper! Little Dipper! ...Any Dipper..."

When her calls received no answer, Stanley put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's going to be fine. We'll find im'. I've seen a lot of these woods, I know im' well enough. He's probably looking for you. How would your brother look for you? Maybe we need to think like him?"

"Oh, good point! If it was the other way around, he'd have us looking for interesting, brightly colored things. So... for him, we'd have to find something incredibly nerdy."

"Great! We have an old nerd with us, so we'll find him in no time." Stanly gestured toward Stanford with a grin, shining his flashlight on to his back like a spot light. "Ta-dah! And there he is. 

Mabel's face softened. She reached out and hugged Stanley tight. "Thanks Grunkle Stan! Er... Stan."

"Heh, it's okay. You can call me Grunkle. It's cool." He hugged her back, turning his sights on Stanford. He was currently examining deep gouge marks set into the trunk of a tree. He jammed one of his six fingers into it, frowning at how far in it went. He turned back around, frowning deeply. His gaze was exactly the same as his Stanford, except it came from an old man. He shuddered and directed his attention elsewhere, still feeling familiar eyes on him.

"Stanley, what lives in this forest?"

"Probably the same stuff that lives in your version of the forest, Sixer."

"No. No, this is different. There are very few things in our Gravity Falls that could do this sort of damage, yet this forest has tons of markings from creatures that seem quite large and extremely lethal."

Stanley winced and gestured with a jerk of his head toward Mabel.

She bit her lip, heading over to touch the marks.

Stanford's eyes widened, and his face drained of all color. "Mabel, I did not mean that Dipper is in any particular danger at the moment, I-"

"It's okay, Grunkle Ford. It's a legitimate question." She rubbed her arm. "C-Can we get going, though? We need to find Dipper before one of those things finds him."

"Yes, of course. Let's get going." Stanford nodded, following behind Mabel enough to keep her in sight without her hearing too much. "...My question still stands."

Stanley lowered his voice, climbing over the some of the discarded tree limbs. "Monsters, Sixer. Big, weird,  _hungry_  monsters. Demons too. Spiders as big as cars, eye bats, plants that give you extremely frustrating nightmares, and well... To be honest with you, they got nothing on Bill. The first night we were here, he caught some sort of mutant deer with no weapons for dinner. I used to think he was some sort of expert hunter, but he finally confessed to having powers. I'm pretty sure he's the apex predator out of all of them. He's hiding out here from  _you_ , so I wouldn't worry too much. If we need help, he'll come."

"I don't need Bill's help." He pulled back his trench coat, revealing the same gun he maimed Bill with earlier attached to his hip. There was another gun on his other side, one that looked considerably different. "I've got plenty of back up."

Stanely rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, you're some kind of space cowboy with a bunch of cool guns. I get it." He shook his head and turned away from him, lengthening his stride to keep up with Mabel.

"Wait! Stanley, wait."

Stanley did not wait, shoving his hands into his pockets. Stanford was by his side soon enough. "Did you really go to my- er, your Stanford's college graduation party?"

"Well yeah." He shrugged a shoulder and kept his eyes on Mabel and the forest ahead. "Didn't your Stanley?"

"No, he didn't. We... we didn't see each other for a long time after the incident in high school."

"Wait. Don't tell me. The me of your universe screwed up your nerd machine."

"Yes, but-"

"Wow, I'm a fuck up in your universe too. Great. ...You know I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I was mad at the machine, sure. But I never intended to break it. I knew I was the worthless twin, but I didn't want you to be worthless with me."

Stanford stopped dead in his tracks, grabbing him by the arm. "Stanley, you're not worth-"

Stanley yanked his arm away, a deep frown plastered on his face. "Stuff it, Sixer. I said 'was' didn't I? Geez, you always used to correct me on my grammar, do you not do that in your universe?"

Stanford's hands hung in place where he had a hold of Stanley's arm. He thought back to the zodiac in Bill's Fearamid, and winced. "I... no..." He cleared his throat.

"Great, that's at least different. I'm a damn good business man, I've got one hell of a best friend who always has my back. I'm  _worthwhile_."

They walked in silence, Stanford's boots crunching over twigs and thinner branches, while Stanley stepped lightly over things. After moments of walking, they reached a clearing.

"Maybe Dipper left clues for us. That's something he would do." Mabel glanced around with her flashlight, heading over to look in the bushes. 

Stanley followed suit, sweeping his flashlight around the perimeter of the bushes. "So uh, how am I in your universe? Did we make up or something? You seem weird around me." 

"I... well, yes. I apologize for the odd behavior. You look exactly like you did right before..." He trailed off for a moment, remembering Stanley's mortified face right before Stanford was sucked into the portal. "Ah. Never mind. It’s best I don't reveal too much in case it is supposed to happen here. I can however confirm something I know you want to hear. You and I sail around the world-"

Stanley stood up fast. He whipped around, staring at Stanford. "-Treasure hunting?"

Stanford cracked a smile, and it spread across his face. "Yes."

Stanley's shoulders slumped slightly. He nearly dropped his flashlight and fumbled with it in his hands. Stanford caught him rubbing his arm across his eyes. "That's good, Six. I'm glad. Really glad. I-"

Mabel stood up from the bushes, shining her light on them both. "I think I hear Dipper! Or... or at least someone running very fast! Dipper! DIPPER!"

Stanley and Stanford began to shout a long with her, calling out into the dark forest. Soon enough, Dipper ran straight past the clearing on the forest path, followed by Bill. He was looking pekkid, sweating too much with blood caked on the corners of his mouth. 

"RUN, MABEL! RUN! Demon! Big angry demon!"

"Wait! What demon?! Bill?! Because he doesn't look good-" Mabel called out after him.

The ground beneath began to tremble, hiccupping beneath their feet. Bebxahl tore down the path, his four fists shaking in rage. He was covered in several burn marks, had a decent size hole in the back of his torso, with bits of his clothing still engulfed in tiny blue flames. 

Stanley grabbed Stanford's arm, pointing after Bebxhal's retreating back. "Shoot him! Shoot him dead! He's guilty, you gotta believe me!" 

Stanford reached into his trench coat, grabbing a stun gun from his side holsters. He leaped on to the path, firing a bolt of electricity into Bebxahl's massive back, drawing out a growling gasp from him. He fell forward, shaking the ground when he landed. 

Stanley pushed through the brush and grabbed Stanford's arm. "Did you kill him?! Is he dead?!"

Mabel slapped both of their backs and ran past them. "Who cares, let's go! They ran this way!"

-

"I can't believe you didn’t kill him." Bill fixated a glare on to Stanford as he finished setting up the splint on his arm. "You had one job, kill the big blue demon. He was an easy target! He didn't even know you were there!"

"I'm not judge, jury, and executioner, Bill. I'm not going to kill someone on word alone." 

"I told him to do it too, that makes two people." Stanley rolled his eyes and stuck another bag of frozen peas on top of Bill's splint.

"Yeah, Grunkle Ford. You really should have killed him. That makes three." Dipper frowned from his seat at the kitchen table in the Mystery Shack. He pulled out his felt tip pen, writing out a message on Bill's splint. "He tried to sacrifice me. Bill actually saved my life." He recapped his pen, fiddling with it. "I  _still_  can't believe those words came out of my mouth."

"Dipper, you and Mabel are in enough trouble as it is. You have put this dimension at risk by using antiquated portal technology. You may have created a rift, and I did not get a decent enough chance to look for it myself."

"Well... that's why we should stay here! And... maybe help find the rift?" Mabel gave him a small smile. "Come on, Grunkle Ford. Let us stay!"

Stanford shook his head and pulled out a small gun from his boot. He turned a dial on the side, setting it down on the table. "I am set to sail with Stanley soon, I can't spend much more time away from our research. I also have  _serious_ doubts about leaving you both here with a Stanley and Bill who aren't much older than you two." He had to pause while both Dipper and Mabel loudly voiced their concerns. After they realized complaints were not working, they settled down. "...I will leave them with one of my portal guns, however." He gestured to the weapon on the table. "Should you need our help if you cannot contain the rift, we will  _gladly_ come. We are all experts on rifts, unfortunately."

"Come visit us anyway!" Mabel grinned. "Even if you don't need help."

"Uh. Yeah. That'd be cool. Bill, I ah... I left you my phone number on your splint. I don't know if you're ever going to be able to text me from this dimension, but you have it anyway. If... if you're ever worried about going off the deep end into Bill's looney tunes world, you can come find me. I'll help. S-somehow."

Bill looked down at the number written on his splint. He ran his finger over it, and his expression went soft. "Thanks, Pine Tree. I appreciate it." 

"I have left my younger self instructions about the rift. He should be more than fine finding and containing it, should one have been made. We'll see ourselves out. ...Thank you both for your help and hospitality."

"Yeah. You can come back, ya know. If you want. Maybe do some treasure something here." Stanley rubbed the back of his neck. "So... don't be strangers."

"Mabel, Dipper. Please wait for me outside. Stanley, if you don't mind, I'd like a word with Bill."

Stanley shrugged a shoulder. "Sure, fine. But I'm going to be in the next room. Come on, kids. I'll show you out.

Once they were alone, Stanford crossed his arms over his chest. "Thank you for saving Dipper. I... really am sorry about your chest. I needed to exterminate Bill, I never considered he may be someone new. Er, that is, you."

"It's okay, I don't blame you. I came from a pretty frightening being." He rubbed his thumb over the lines in his jeans, avoiding Stanford's face. "I might  _become_ a frightening being one day. According to him though, there's competition in that market. I don't know much, but ...We might be calling you for more than just rift hunting."

Stanford shifted on his feet. "We will answer that call, should you need us."

"Thanks. I'd shake your hand, but I have the distinct feeling you won't want to do that."

"I don't and won't and will never. ...Good day, Bill." He turned to walk out of the door, pausing to glance over his shoulder. "...Please take care of yourself."

Bill gave a half-hearted wave, sitting alone in the kitchen as the soft dawn light flooded the room. A good few minutes later, Stanley poked his head into the kitchen. "Hey! You look like hell."

"I feel like hell." Bill winced as he slowly stood up to his feet. "I'll tell you all about it after several days of sleep. I'm going to go upstairs and cuddle with your brother before he gets up." He dragged his way toward the staircase, looking over his shoulder at Stanley. "G'night, Stanley. ...Thanks for protecting me earlier."

"Any time, Bill. Sleep well. I can't wait to hear all about your weird day."

Bill nodded, slowly starting his climb up the stairs. His legs felt like sandbags, growing heavier with each step. He leaned against Stanford's door, holding on to his broken arm.  _I better get healing first thing when I wake up._ Instead of a peacefully sleeping Stanford, he was sitting rigid in his bed with his journal on his lap, open to a page Bill could not see. "Fordsy, you're up."

"B-Bill! I... I-"

"Shh." He held up a hand. "I know you probably want to ask like a million questions and that's totally fair, but... I need to sleep. I'll tell you and Stanley everything, I swear." He staggered over to the bed, missing how quickly Stanford moved out of the way as he flopped down on his stomach. The force knocked the journal on to the bed, revealing the final words Stanford Pines was reading.

_Do not trust Bill Cipher at all costs._

_-_ End


End file.
